A Steady Course

Writers: Jane
Date Posted: 24th July 2009

Characters: O'rian, K'hetah
Description: K'hetah finds a good time to talk to a young wingrider.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 4, day 8 of Turn 5

The downside of having an office space shared by the three ranked riders in a wing was that it could be quite difficult to engineer a private talk with anybody. Still, K'hetah was nothing if not able to think laterally and when he caught up with the wingrider he wanted to speak to it was at a time and in a place that virtually guaranteed privacy, though there were bound to be a few interruptions.

"I suppose you're used to this," K'hetah said, indicating the sheltering rock that gave some small amount of shadow for the pair to rest in.

"What? The heat?" It didn't escape the notice of the wingriders of Cyclone Wing that their Wingleader didn't enjoy the heat of the tropical Southern Continent Weyr. "I'm used to it. We do lots of things to avoid being busy in the middle of the day, but some things can't be rescheduled."

Like watch duty. K'hetah peered out of the shelter down at the broken Weyrbowl. The Bowl floor looked no different from the beach, the elder bronzerider observed, not much cheered by the thought. He wasn't a natural fit for the tropical beach lifestyle at Dolphin Cove, and he hoped time would make him feel more at home in the heat and sand.

"I wasn't thinking of the heat," he said finally, dragging his eyes away from the scene far below their perch. "I was meaning this." He patted his hand on the shelter. "Seems illogical to have a shelter when on watch duty, since it limits your view."

"Couldn't be out here during the day without it," O'rian pointed out. "And Taoth does the real 'watching'. I'm just a ... an advisor to help him interpret what he's noticed."

As if to punctuate the young man's words the dark coloured bronze bugled a greeting to a trio of dragons that appeared from /between/ at the regulation height above the Weyr.

"Visiting weyrlings," O'rian explained to his Wingleader, though he supposed the man's own dragon had already told him that.

"Taoth seems to enjoy watch duty."

The young bronzerider's bright blue eyes met his Wingleader's and he smiled. "Taoth enjoys doing his work. He gets a real satisfaction from it. Even watch duty."

"And, of course, the heat doesn't worry him," K'hetah pointed out with an answering smile. O'rian had the mixed blessing of his father's impressive stature and his jet black hair, and he certainly had the former Weyrleader's charm by the sack full. Not that O'rian used it - if indeed it was a conscious thing - for the young man was conscientious and quieter than most. He didn't socialise much with the Wing, or with others, from what K'hetah had seen. "So, how has your first month with Cyclone been?"

O'rian hoped that question was the reason the Wingleader had joined them, and that there weren't any more serious issues waiting to ambush him. He thought not, because chatting to somebody while on watch duty could never be as formal as an interview in the Wing's office simply because the rider on duty couldn't be expected to give his answers his full attention.

Most likely the Wingleader just wanted to hear from one of his newest wingriders without making the conversation too important. And if that was the case O'rian was happy to oblige.

"Good." Unconsciously he flexed his shoulders, moving the muscles that were developing with his change in lifestyle from a healer apprentice to a young dragonrider. Being a dragonrider was a much more physical business than O'rian had realised until he had found himself a weyrling and bone tired most of those six months. Now, though, it was a different sort of work. His days had fallen into a more regular pattern and he had regained some time for himself. "I'm enjoying it."

Rather like Taoth, K'hetah thought. It wasn't some wild enjoyment of the adrenaline rush of Threadfall that either young man or dragon were meaning, but the quiet satisfaction of meeting the challenge of a wingrider's life in a Pass. The pair of them were proud of what they did; doing it well enough given their experience, and willing to learn.

Some people had to go through - or _grow_ through - some huge shocks or changes to settle into steady success; some people flew a steady course right from the beginning. In O'rian's case it wasn't clear whether this was natural or assumed in reaction to his father's spectacular successes and failures, but whatever the reason the young man was already shaping up as a reliable wingrider and a future rank-holder.

"I'm glad," the Wingleader admitted. He wanted more from the other bronzerider though. A new pair of eyes could give a fresh perspective on the day-to-day things that those more familiar with them no longer saw. "But tell me what you'd change in the Wing - in the Weyr - if you could."

Another glance and smile in the Wingleader's direction. "Are you going to change things on my say-so?"

"I'm going to give everything you say due consideration," K'hetah replied with a laugh but his laughter was drowned in another bugle from Taoth and the loss of O'rian's attention as the wingrider looked out from the shelter to watch the descent of a visiting bronze.

It didn't matter how long the conversation took. What mattered was that O'rian got used to talking to his Wingleader, and that K'hetah got the chance to see a new wingrider's view of their Wing he led.

Last updated on the July 24th 2009

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A Steady Course